Most UUV payload systems require high navigational accuracy for target localization. Once the vehicle dives from the surface, it is dependent upon a velocity log to maintain navigational accuracy. Thus, DVL bottom lock range effectively limits the water depth in which target localization missions can be prosecuted. The team proposes to pair a 150 kHz DVL with a 600 kHz DVL. The performance of this dual frequency sensor will be less dependent on water column properties because the low frequency transducer will provide sufficient performance margin at high altitudes while the high frequency transducer will provide measurement accuracy at low altitudes that is sufficient for synthetic aperture sonars. The resulting DVL sensor will be ideal for integration with existing inertial navigation systems (e.g. Kearfott, IxSea). The team shall implement a sensor fusion algorithm that augments the DVL velocity estimates with data from the inertial measurement sensors (accelerometers and rate gyros) to produce a more accurate velocity estimate than is possible with the DVL alone. Additionally, auto-tuning algorithms that will reduce configuration requirements for the field operator will be investigated. High fidelity simulation of acoustics, vehicle dynamics, and the operating environment will be integral to the design process.

The proposed Glider design concept is based on quantitative tradeoffs between cost and performance. Existing glider technology has been analyzed, and two significant design details have led to a simplified design that will result in a compact, less expensive glider and a simplified delivery/launching mechanism. Using its high fidelity simulation and design tools, VCT has gained important new insights into glider design for performance. This has led to tradeoffs among wing parameters, vertical fin size, Ycg shift and rudder deflection for optimizing turn performance. Combining these discoveries has led to the design of the proposed wingless glider that can achieve equal or better turn performance of the legacy winged gliders. Legacy gliders use a weight-shift method pitch, roll and heading control. This increases the internal complexity of the system as it requires the weight to be mobile, and also increases the size of the pressure housing, effectively increasing the gliders size, weight, buoyancy required, and ultimately, cost. The low-cost expendable glider we are proposing would use a lift-up mast to transmit information. The mast is raised using the same actuator that operates the variable buoyancy engine, but at an extended stroke position.

Many end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients suffer from anemia due to insufficient endogenous production of erythropoietin (EPO). The discovery of recombinant human EPO (rHuEPO) over 30 years ago has shifted the treatment of anemia for patients on dialysis from blood transfusions to rHuEPO therapy. Many anemia management protocols (AMPs) used by clinicians comprise a set of experience-based rules for weekly-to-monthly titration of rHuEPO doses based on hemoglobin (Hgb) measurements. In order to facilitate the design of an AMP based on formal control design methods, we present a physiologically-relevant erythropoiesis model, and show that its nonlinear dynamics can be approximated using a static nonlinearity, a step that greatly simplifies AMP design. We demonstrate applicability of our results using clinical data.
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